After the lychee trees were cut down in a muddled manner, the stumps of the lychee trees lay sleeping on the wild fields. Without the lychee trees, the villagers repeatedly went to the fields to observe and express their helplessness.
Recently, villagers from Gan Village Slope under the Gan Village Committee in Xiadong Town, Dianbai County, Guangdong Province, complained on the local Maoming website "My Maoming" that dozens of acres of lychee trees belonging to the villagers were suddenly cut down by village cadres leading a group of people. The villagers were largely unaware of this action, thus feeling strongly resentful towards the cadres' move. They wish for relevant higher-level departments to intervene and handle the situation, providing an explanation to the villagers. After learning about this, the reporter immediately went to investigate.
The original lychee orchard now only has tree stumps left.
In the north of Gan Village Slope, on the south bank of the Shalang River, there is a large area of farmland where crops such as peanuts, mung beans, soybeans, rice, sweet potatoes, and cassava have been planted. However, amidst the fields, dozens of lychee trees are still scattered sparsely, making it feel somewhat strange.
Gan Village Slope villager Wu Yaowei informed the reporter that this place is called "Tangxia Dong". Originally, it was all a continuous lychee orchard. On February 23rd this year, a group of unidentified individuals arrived here with eight electric saws and began cutting down the lychee trees without saying a word. They cut for four days straight until the villagers intervened and stopped them; otherwise, all the lychee trees in Tangxia Dong might have been cut down.
The villagers took the reporter for a walk around the fields, and the reporter noticed that within the fields already planted with crops, there were still remnants of uprooted lychee tree stumps that had become semi-dry. In some uncultivated fields, among the weeds, one could still see lychee tree stumps that hadn't been dug up yet. New shoots had sprouted from these stumps, some growing nearly half a meter tall.
Villagers: Trees cut down without knowledge
Villager Wu Xianhua said that over 70 lychee trees from his family were cut down without any prior notice. These trees were between 10 to 20 years old and bore fruit almost every year. Now they have all been destroyed, which is heartbreaking to see.
Villager Wang Hongsheng mentioned that his family also lost more than 60 lychee trees. No one notified them or provided any compensation, leaving them confused about how they lost these trees.
Another villager, Wu Shiqiang, recounted that on that day, he was working in another field when he suddenly heard other villagers say that the village cadres were leading people to cut down lychee trees at Tangxia Dong. He rushed there and indeed saw a group of young men wildly cutting down trees with electric saws. He loudly reprimanded them, causing them to stop. However, 11 lychee trees from his home had already been cut down, leaving the remaining 20-plus standing alone in the fields. "How can they cut down our lychee trees without our consent? Is this reasonable?" Wu Shiqiang angrily asked.
Village Cadres: Meetings were held but no agreements signed
A Cui-surnamed cadre from the Gan Village Committee stated in a telephone interview that before the cutting of the lychee trees, the committee did hold meetings to inform the villagers but failed to sign related agreements with them, which was an oversight.
Cadre Cui explained that prior to cutting the trees, the Village Committee had convened party member meetings, village head meetings, and public meetings to notify everyone. Of course, some villagers attended while others didn’t, and some villagers disagreed. Due to requirements from higher authorities, wastelands, slopes, or original farmlands needed to be reclaimed for agriculture. The land at Tangxia Dong in Gan Village Slope was originally farmland, later planted with lychee trees by the villagers. In recent years, due to low yields from lychees, the villagers wanted to switch to planting peanuts, rice, and other crops. Therefore, most villagers agreed to cut down the lychee trees. Later, someone suggested waiting until after harvesting the current batch of fruits before cutting the trees, so the cutting was halted. When asked if any agreements related to cutting the trees and reclaiming the land were signed with the villagers, Cadre Cui admitted that no agreements were signed, though according to regulations, they should have been. This was a shortcoming on the part of the Village Committee.
Town Cadres: Farmland should be reclaimed, but procedures must be complete
For this matter, the reporter sought clarification from the Xiadong Town government. According to a Wen-surnamed cadre from the town, last year, the provincial government issued a notice requiring rural areas to actively reclaim wastelands, slopes, or original farmlands for agricultural purposes, such as rice cultivation. Currently, most places have basically implemented the higher authorities' requirements, reclaiming or converting cultivable wastelands, slopes, or original farmlands. Xiadong Town has also done a lot of work in this regard, encouraging each village to reclaim farmland. According to regulations, the process involves first having each Village Committee cooperate with the land department to select sites for reclamation, reporting to the town government, then holding village meetings to explain the situation to ensure all villagers know and agree. Subsequently, agreements related to development and reclamation must be signed with the villagers, followed by signing development agreements with the developers, and finally reporting to the town land office and the deputy town leaders. These are the basic procedures.
Regarding the dissatisfaction expressed by Gan Village Slope villagers regarding the "secret cutting" of lychee trees, the town cadre mentioned that previously, he was not fully aware of this incident. If the Village Committee indeed did not convene a village meeting or sign related agreements with the villagers, then the procedure was improper. Reclamation should proceed, but the procedures must be complete, which is both reasonable and lawful. He indicated that the town will look into the matter and resolve it appropriately soon. (Maoming Evening News)
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